


Cantabile

by euncheols



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Kindergarten & Pre-school, Alternate Universe - Parents, Family Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Slow Burn, everything no one asked for but i did anyway!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-06-02 22:57:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6586150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/euncheols/pseuds/euncheols
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jihoon doesn't know why, but everytime he sees Seungcheol, he feels fluttery inside, as if his heart wants to sing all of the unsung melodies he has yet to compose.</p><p>(Seungcheol teaches Chan how to write by morning and he teaches Jihoon how to love again by night.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cantabile

**Author's Note:**

> suprise;;; i bet you thought you'd seen the last of me;;  
> i'm back and i'm back with more jicheols!! who would have thought? :)  
> anyways, i wanted to thank vi (verkvan) and clara (vernoope) on twitter for being such sweethearts towards this whole project and to my beautiful waifu miro who got excited with me as i typed the final adjustments to this! ♡  
> well, with that i hope everyone can enjoy it!! ♡

 

 

Can • ta • bi • le  
( _music. adj._ )

 

  1. Songlike and flowing in style;
  2. In a sing-song voice.



 

 

 

 

 

The sound of the robotic melody beeping from the alarm and the canorous singing of the birds outside announces a new day. Jihoon blinks his eyes slowly before getting up with a yawn. Jihoon is, by no means, a morning person at all and in his 26 years of living, he doesn’t think that’ll be changing so soon.

He looks to the side and sees his son, Chan, sleeping peacefully by the other side of the bed, his tiny arms curled around his favorite dinosaur plushie – Dino. Jihoon smiles at the sight, the annoyance of waking up early slipping as he shakes Chan’s shoulder lightly.

“Good morning, Channie,” he chuckles as Chan opens his eyes tiredly, turning to the side as he tries to avoid waking up. “You’re going to get late to school.”

At the mention of school, the sleepy boy suddenly perks up as he jumps from bed. Jihoon laughs softly to himself as Chan carefully settles down his plushie on the bed and strides to the bathroom, feet making soft sounds in his way.

Jihoon figures out it’s about time for him to get up too, checking if Chan is doing a good job in washing his face and brushing his teeth (“Dad, I’m already 5!” he would say, showing off his palm, five fingers fully confirming he’s a grown up already, much to Jihoon’s amusement) before getting Chan a change of clothes and heading off to the kitchen.

By the time he’s done cooking breakfast, Chan is already at the table, shiny smile plastered in his face, showing off he has indeed washed his face and brushed his teeth correctly, earning a thumbs up from Jihoon, who in turn motions for him to start eating.

The only sounds in the apartment are of the faint buzzing of the TV and the clinking of silvery. Their apartment was a small one, with tiny proportions for an adult and a child, but it was filled with love nonetheless. Even though sometimes Jihoon wished he could afford a bigger place for him and Chan, their current place was enough for both of them. Maybe someday.

“Dad? We’re going to get late!” Chan perked up suddenly, making a funny face as he pointed to the clock on the kitchen.

Jihoon placed the dishes on the sink as Chan anxiously held his keys, tiny backpack already strapped on his back.

“Let’s go!” Chan jumped as he took his hand in Jihoon’s and smiled, pulling his arm as he led the way downstairs the apartment complex.

There was no way Jihoon could have a grumpy morning when Chan was this adorable.

The walk to the daycare is one of Jihoon’s favorite moments of the day. It’s simple, yet endearing. It’s springtime, so their ten minute walk to the daycare becomes much pleasant with the falling petals decorating their way, as if they’re creating a flowery carpet just for them to walk over. Chan’s mesmerized expression as he mindfully watches the flowery parade is always a sight to behold, image burned in the back of Jihoon’s mind.

As expected, they soon reach their destination, the sound of other children laughing and parents talking filling the otherwise quiet street. They stop and Jihoon bents down so Chan can give him a warm goodbye hug. He ruffles his hair, before waving to one of the teachers and daycare owners, Jisoo, who in turns smile to them.

“Good morning Chan,” Jisoo says softly, kind as usual, “Ready to go?”

“Yeah!” Chan beams, “Bye dad!”

“Bye,” Jihoon smiles as he waves goodbye, seeing with the corner of his eyes Jisoo taking a hold of Chan’s hand as they walk away.

 

Once Chan goes to the daycare, his humor begins to drop per step as he walks to the subway to work. It’s not as if Jihoon hates his job – he’s glad he’s able to make a living out of what makes him truly happy, music – but the amount of work accumulated makes him beyond stressed.

The thoughts of the things he has to take care of for the day occupy his mind all the way to work, and he barely registers he’s already standing in the building where his studio is located. He takes out his entrance card as he gets inside. From these doors in, he’s no longer Lee Jihoon, but actually prodigy producer Woozi, composer of many songs of success for popular singers and groups.

“Goooood morning!” chimes in Seokmin, Jihoon’s assistant at the studio, shoving a cup of espresso in Jihoon’s hand. Taking care of all of the paperwork he throws around the studio by himself is overwhelming, so he actually feels grateful the company hired Seokmin to help him out. The kid is nice enough and his bright personality is a reminder to Jihoon to keep check of his temperamental one.

“What do we have for today?” Jihoon asks, gulping down some more coffee as he sits down by the computer, starting to click around impatiently as he waits for it to turn it on.

“Well, today Jihyo-ssi is coming to record that solo track I told you yesterday, Mihyun-noona wants you to revise some lyrics and Ilhoon-hyung sent an email about the collaboration production for next week,” he pauses, turning a page from his small notebook before continuing, “And… You have to send in the track files to Mark-hyung by today.”

“Sounds good enough,” Jihoon hums, “Thank you.”

Seokmin smiles as he sits on his desk, turning his computer on before holding a fist in the air with determination. “Let’s get to work.”

 

 

–-

 

 

Things have been going surprisingly well, records coming clean and without too many retakes, track files sent here and there, emails being answered - in their busy flow, the way things were going just right was a rarity in itself. Until Jihoon received a call from the daycare.

“Good afternoon, Jihoon-ah?” the static sound of what resembled Jisoo’s melodic voice resonated through the speaker, “Do you happen to have any spare time now?”

“Did anything happen?” was his reply, straight to the point, worry beginning to grow uncomfortably in his chest.

“Yes and no,” Jisoo let out a sigh, which Jihoon supposed he should take as a sign nothing really bad happened, but he preferred to hear the full story anyhow, “Actually Channie scrapped his knees today in the playground and he doesn’t seem to be feeling very well… Would you like to pick him up earlier today?”

“That’s- um, that’s no problem,” he stuttered, “I’ll be there. Thank you, hyung. Bye.”

In cue, Seokmin stood up, analyzing Jihoon’s worried expression. “Did anything happen?” he asked quietly.

“Not really, it’s okay,” the older sighed in exasperation, “I’ll have to leave earlier today, so can you take care of things around here for me?”

“Sure thing!”

“Thank you. Call me if something urgent comes up, alright?”

“Got it!” Seokmin flashed a bright smile before resuming his work, “Tell baby Channie I said hi!”

 

 

\--

 

 

Jihoon wished he didn’t tell Seokmin he could call him if anything urgent came up.

Because what was supposed to be a quiet trip back to the daycare turned out in a heated business discussion with the production staff about how they can’t delay the collaboration track in two weeks and how they can’t have Seokmin working overnight because the sounding system in the second studio isn’t working so well.

“Listen, I already told you, we can’t--“

“Dad!” a familiar voice rings in his ears and Jihoon gives a quick excuse before ending the call, shoving his phone on the back of his front pockets.

When he finally looks up to see where Chan is, Jihoon is taken by surprise.

“Dad!” Chan walks to Jihoon, embracing his legs, a sign that he wants to be lifted up, to which Jihoon complies. He can see decorated curatives in both of the child’s knees, bright pink and flashing yellow in each side with a stamp of bunnies.

But this isn’t what calls his attention at all.

“Oh, good afternoon” a tall, raven-haired male with a red apron smeared with paint looks up at Jihoon softly. “I assume you’re Mr. Lee, am I right?”

“Jihoon. Lee Jihoon.” he puts Chan on the ground before shaking the other’s hand politely.

“Nice to meet you,” he breaks in a dazzling smile, “I’m-“

“Teacher Cheol!” Chan points at the dark-haired male with a smile.

“Seungcheol.” he laughs softly before retreating his hand.

‘Ah’ is Jihoon’s first thought – he remembers Chan mentioning “Teacher Cheol” here and there, telling about how his teacher compliments his dinosaur drawings and helping him as he tries to write simple messages with his chalks.

His second thought drifts to ‘why is this daycare taker so attractive’, but he keeps the thought to himself.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” Seungcheol bows deeply, “We got worried because Chan wouldn’t stop crying, asking for you to come.”

Jihoon takes a glance to Chan, who is too busy playing around with some flowers from the tiny garden by the entrance. Seungcheol takes the silence as a motivation for him to continue.

“Well, it seemed like just a small injury, but we decided to call you anyway,” he smiles fondly at Chan, whom reciprocates the expression, “In any case, I already disinfected the wound and placed some curatives.”

The producer’s expression softens, “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem,” Seungcheol nods, before turning to the child, “our Channie here was really strong as he waited for me to take care of his hurt, right?”

“I was!” he smiles proudly at Jihoon, before walking to hug Seungcheol’s legs, “Teacher Cheol is the best!”

They both laugh softly, high-fiving each other. Jihoon can only watch the scene unfold before him with a tender look in his eyes.

“Then, should we get going?” Jihoon bends down so he can pick up Chan again, scooping him in his arms as the child wraps his own arms around Jihoon’s neck, “Thank you again, um,”

“Seungcheol.” he smiles as the younger takes as step back.

Jihoon nods in understanding, information now registered in his mind. For some reason, their gazes meet and he feels as if his stomach flipped in nervousness. Seungcheol seems to notice this, smiling warmly at him, to which Jihoon responds by looking away and hoping his cheeks aren’t pinking from embarrassment as he thinks they are.

Chan waves both of his hands, “Bye, teacher Cheol!”

“Bye Channie! See you tomorrow!” Jihoon can see with the corner of his eyes Seungcheol waving at them.

 

(The surprising sweetness from what just happened keeps replaying in Jihoon’s mind like a broken record and when he goes to sleep, he still hasn’t forgotten the way Seungcheol took care of Chan.)

 

 

\--

 

 

By the next day, Jihoon’s routine repeats as it should – waking up, getting ready, taking Chan to school and then going to work. But the thought of picking Chan up once the day is over keeps beeping in his mind as something to look forward to. While he usually does look forward to get away from work and being reunited with his son, there’s something else to it that Jihoon doesn’t understand completely.

As his day unfolds, he realizes that keeping a goal to the end of the day keeps him motivated in getting with work. Today is a hectic day, due to the intense recording sessions for a new album and Jihoon can feel the tiredness as his eyelids feels heavier the usual, even if he’s been drinking the fifth cup of coffee for now.

He massages his temples with his fingers as Seokmin looks at him worriedly, as if Jihoon could explode in any second now (he probably could.)

“We’re retaking it,” Jihoon presses the button to communicate with the recording room, “Seungyeon-ssi, your voice is still not sounding natural.”

“Let’s take things slow,” Seokmin adds, to which Seungyeon seems to catch as she breathes in relief.

“From the beginning,” Jihoon says on the microphone to the recording room, “One, two.”

The recording begins again, flowing slightly better. The producer flinches slightly when he feels a poking his shoulder. “Is everything okay?” Seokmin asks warily, hands clutching a boardclip tightly.

“It’s alright,” Jihoon breathes.

“You just,” Seokmin hums, “You just seem different today.”

“Is that a good or a bad thing?”

“I don’t know, you just look… airy today?” the younger muses, “Is everything alright with Chan?”

“Everything’s alright,” Jihoon opts for a quiet sigh, “Let’s get to work.”

The next hours in the studio are agonizingly slow. Without Seokmin taking track (and care) of Jihoon, he could stay overnight working with everything he needs and wants to be done. Today is a rare exception. His constant distraction, are too, starting to become an issue in his work. Something on the back of his mind keep dragging him back to the daycare and he can’t seem to figure out for the love of god why, as if he forgot something very important.

Working hours reaches to an end, finally, as Jihoon can hear the beeping of Seokmin’s phone alarm indicating they’re done for the day. The older lets out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding, which prompts Seokmin to look at him curiously, although he doesn’t say anything about it, opting instead for smiling brightly at him and telling about his plans for this Friday night, in an attempt to induce some nice thoughts instead of worrying about work and work.

Jihoon takes the offer and listens wholeheartedly to what the younger has to say, hearing about the upcoming party he’s in for, which are the people attending and (this part he says in a soft breath, as if it’s a secret he trust no one else but Jihoon to know) that he’s excited to see his long-time crush there.

Seokmin is truly a good kid. It makes Jihoon wonder what kind of person will Chan become once he grows up. He wouldn’t mind if he were to be a little like his assistant.

They part ways, the younger smiling brightly before hopping off the station, leaving Jihoon with his neverending train of thoughts by himself.

Earlier than expected, he finds himself back in the familiar street with the flowery carpet, the sunset casting an orange and peach glow to the scenery in front of his eyes. It’s a sight to behold, inspiring even, making some lyrical words fly through his head.

“Dad!” he is greeted with Chan running to him and hugging his legs.

“Hey there little one,” Jihoon smiles, bending down to pick the child up.

“Ah, don’t forget this,” the once unfamiliar deep voice rings in Jihoon’s ears, holding up the green and yellow backpack to them.

“Teacher Cheol!” Chan beams, getting down on the ground and proceeding to run over to Seungcheol, hugging his legs before retrieving his backpack.

“Oh, hey there, Jihoon,” Seungcheol smiles politely, an expression that Jihoon mirrors.

“Hi,” Jihoon trails off because he’s not entirely surely what to say, especially not when Seungcheol seems to be looking at him so expectantly, as if his following words, if there were any, could be the most important thing he would ever hear.

“It’s good to see you again,” eventually Seungcheol ends up breaking the brief silence, smiling softly and something about his voice makes Jihoon feels oddly comfortable.

“Yeah, I guess, uh-“ Jihoon glances at Chan, who is distracted watching a butterfly to notice his desperate gaze and he doesn’t understand why all of a sudden he feels anxious, as if he let Seungcheol down and he feels embarrassment creeping up to his expression, “Let’s get going, um- bye!”

He can definitely hear Seungcheol chuckling in the background as he walks away with hurried steps. So much for saying he felt comfortable.

 

 

\--

 

 

During the weekend, while Jihoon is browsing through social media in his phone out of boredom, is interrupted by Chan who brings him a freshly made chalk drawing.

“Look, dad!” Chan tugs at Jihoon’s oversized shirt to get his attention, “I drew all of my favorite people in the world!”

Sitting down on the sofa properly, Jihoon puts his phone back in his pocket before taking a good look to the prime artwork in front of him. Chan plops down by his side, leaning in with a bright smile.

If anything, it’s creative – the kid has his talent to arts, Jihoon thinks. It’s a sunny day, indicated by the yellow spot on the side of the sheet, with blue clouds and a grassy field out of green scribbles. Several stick figures are drawn, each one of them with their own characteristics.

“This here is you dad!” Chan points out to a stick figure with what seemingly looks like pink hair, which earns a pat in Chan’s head – courtesy of his father. “Ah, and this here is Seokmin-hyung!”

“And these are my friends from school!” he continues, pointing now to stick figures of kids, each one with their own features, “This one is my best friend Hansol and my other best friend Seungkwan!” he smiles proudly.

“These two over there are Yerim and Tzuyu!” he says, pointing out to a stick figure dressed in pink and a taller stick figure. “Tzuyu is very tall,” Chan comments.

“And who are these ones?” Jihoon points to three taller stick figures (taller than his own, Jihoon figures, but he lets that go for now) standing side by side, wearing the same clothes, although with different hair styles, “Is this… Jisoo-hyung?” he wonders outloud with a snort.

“This is teacher Joshua!” Chan corrects in his cute pronunciation, to which Jihoon nods, “He plays the guitar really well.”

“And this is teacher Jeonghan!” he points to a figure with long red hair and Jihoon thinks he saw him maybe once or twice, but never got properly introduced, “He keeps telling me I’m still a baby! Can you believe that?” Chan crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks, action making Jihoon laugh.

“And this one?” Jihoon points to a tall figure next to his own, who he can’t recognize at all “Who is this?”

“This is teacher Cheol!” Chan beams and Jihoon feels a sudden nervousness upon hearing it.

“Ah, is that so…”

“Yeah!” the child beams, “Look, we’re holding hands here – like you!”

“And why is that?”

“He always holds my hand when we go to the playground,” he giggles, “And because after you, he’s the person I like the most!” Chan looks up at him with a smile and it takes a moment for Jihoon to let the words sink in.

He thinks about Seungcheol’s sparkly eyes by the faint sunset light and wonders to himself whether the sudden pang he feels in his chest is alright at all to feel.

 

 

\--

 

 

“So, you’re a composer?”

Jihoon doesn’t know how he found himself with hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans, leaning against a wall talking to Seungcheol – of all people – as they watched over Chan and his friends playing by the swings.

Thinking better about it, he came to pick Chan up in the daycare as usual, but this time around Chan asked him if he could _pretty please_ play some more with his friends in the playground before going home – something about Hansol’s mom coming in later today and his other friend Seungkwan persuading Jihoon into let them play just for five more minutes.

“Aw, five minutes isn’t much, is it?” Seungcheol (who came out of nowhere) smiled at them, “I can keep you company while they have some more fun for today.”

Jihoon should have said no – today work was particularly stressful – with recordings taking longer than usual to get done, making him get a headache that hurt his entire being, but could he ever say “no” to Chan about anything at all? He sighed a ‘yes’ and did his best to hide a smile when the three kids cheered in delight before running their way to the playground.

So there he is, side by side to Seungcheol as the latter asks him trivial questions about his life, to let him – is his defense – get to know better the father of one of his nicest and brightest students. There’s something about Seungcheol, Jihoon thinks, that makes him feel comfortable, but there’s another part of Jihoon that makes him feel slightly bothered by the way he can make his words and remarks sound so… _flirty_ for a casual conversation.

He tries to settle in to ignore about the latter part. In addition to ignoring the tiny voice inside his head telling him that he’s interested about getting to know Seungcheol more too.

“Yeah, I am,” Jihoon answer after what feels like a lifetime, earning a hum from Seungcheol, “I write and produce.”

“That’s amazing!” the older beams, eyes sparkling in excitement and the thought of his smile being cute didn’t cross Jihoon’s mind at all, “You know, I used to compose raps back in high school.”

“Oh, really?” Jihoon asks, slightly surprised.

“Yep!” Seungcheol nods confidently, “I was quite popular back then,” he clicks his tongue with what can only be a cheekiness of his part.

“Really,” the younger says this time, a hint of sarcasm dripping of his words, his own cheeky trait showing up.

“It was the coolest, okay?” Seungcheol says, almost offended upon noticing Jihoon’s change of tone, “rap god S.Coups was the thing back then.”

Jihoon snorts and he thinks now Seungcheol could be definitely offended, but he can’t help but laugh at the sentence. “S.Coups? Oh my _God_ ,” he cringes before laughing a little louder, which makes Seungcheol begin to laugh as well, “That’s some artistic name if I ever heard one.”

“You betcha,” he smirks, “clearly you can’t grasp all of the meaning behind it.”

“Yeah, right.” Jihoon snorts again, before calming down his laughter.

There’s a moment of silence, a comfortable one, and Jihoon gets a glimpse of Chan and his friends playing on the slider.

“Hey.”

“What?” the younger replies, turning to look at the other.

Their gazes lock and Jihoon finds himself lost in Seungcheol’s sparkly eyes, feeling his breath hitching.

“You look cute when you smile.”

Red lights went up in Jihoon’s head because, he thinks, Seungcheol is actually _crossing borders_ with his statement, but all Jihoon can do is to keep looking at the older, feeling his cheeks getting hotter by every second as his legs feel frozen to the ground.

Seungcheol is the first to break the silence, laughing loudly. This seems to snap Jihoon out of his reverie, although the embarrassment from what just happened still hasn’t left his mind or the warmness of his cheeks.

A loud beep of a car startles them and Jihoon can see a woman not much older than him waving over to the playground. “I’ll be right back,” Seungcheol announces, walking over to the kids on the playground.

Jihoon watches as Seungcheol engages in some friendly conversation with both mothers, while the kids take the moment in favor of playing some more. Eventually, Seungkwan and Hansol bid them goodbye, walking over with their parents away from the playground. Seungcheol takes Chan’s hands and begin to march back to where Jihoon is. It’s a nice sight, he muses, Chan skipping as he steps, making the preschool teacher laugh brightly.

“I think it’s time for us to go then,” Jihoon says, to which Chan nods in agreement, pointing to his stomach, “Um, thank you, Seungche-“

“It’s okay to call me hyung,” Seungcheol smiles sheepishly.

“Right, um, seungcheol-hyung,” Jihoon stutters before taking Chan’s hand, “Well, thank you.”

“Bye teacher Cheol!” Chan smiles tiredly at him.

“Bye Channie!” Seungcheol gives him a high-five, making Chan laugh.

Jihoon is about to turn on his heels to walk away when suddenly Seungcheol pokes his shoulder. “Jihoon-ah,” he says once he has the producer’s attention, “I never really got the chance to take your number, you know.”

Seungcheol hands his phone to him, contact name already filled with “Jihoon” and a pink heart emoji. He raises an eyebrow at the older, but types in his number nonetheless, saving it before handing back the phone to its owner.

“Thank you,” he smiles, “well, I bet Channie here wants to get home soon, right?” he laughs softly at Chan who points to his own stomach.

“I want to eat nuggets for dinner!” he states happily and Jihoon complies with a smile.

They tell their goodbyes again and begin to walk back home. As he looks back, Jihoon can see Seungcheol still waving at them, and doing it with more enthusiasm once he realizes the blonde producer is looking at him.

Jihoon scoffs before tearing his gaze away from him, but not before noticing how attractive Seungcheol looks under the dusk glow, and he debates internally if he looks better under the orange glow from the sunset or the gradient blue and salmon light.

The thought of both of them makes Jihoon smile involuntarily.

 

 

\--

 

 

“You definitely look airy lately.”

 

Jihoon blinks a few times upon hearing Seokmin speaking matter-of-factly. They’re having lunch now, Jihoon leaving the studio for once, forcefully even, as Seokmin drags him to the nearest fast food. It’s not exactly healthy, but if Seokmin thinks he’s going to drag Jihoon to some salad-festival kind of place like he did the last time, then he’s dead wrong.

“See, this is what I’m talking about, hyung,” he sighs, “You’ve been doing a lot of that recently.”

He thinks a bit about it. True enough, he has been receiving more texts than usual ever since he gave Seungcheol his number. the preschool teacher is nothing short of talkative, and although Jihoon feels slightly annoyed in reading the shower of texts Seungcheol sends him daily, occasionally (or in the majority?) flirty ones, he admits it’s something that makes him legitimately happy. Their conversation just flow so easily, it makes even Jihoon shocked once he thinks about it. Sometimes it feels as if they’re complete opposites and at the same time it feels they’re too alike to be real. As in cue, a buzz of his phone cuts off his thoughts abruptly, a melodic beep following.

“And you’ve been getting a lot of texts lately,” he crosses his arms.

“Don’t I get a lot of texts usually anyways, Sherlock?” Jihoon fishes his phone from his pocket, getting a glimpse of Seokmin’s (rare) bored expression, “You of all people should know this.”

“Yeah, that’s why I know there’s got to be something on,” his eyes bore on Jihoon’s, who arches an eyebrow in return, “Because this is your personal phone and even so you rarely answer to whatever people send you on this one anyways.”

“Elementary, my dear Watson,” Jihoon rolls his eyes.

“Wasn’t I Sherlock though?” Seokmin laughs, to which Jihoon ends up laughing as well.

There’s a tiny silence, save for the noise from people talking in the background before Seokmin speaks up again, “Are you seeing someone?”

Jihoon almost spits out his drink, gagging slightly, making Seokmin laugh louder as some people begin to stare at them. “So you _are_ seeing someone!” he beams, “This is amazing, hyung! Congratulations!”

“I’m not seeing anyone, Seokmin,” Jihoon states defensively, cheeks pinking at the thought.

The younger shoots him a knowing glare, “oh, really?”

“ _Yes_ , really.”

“Okay hyung, if you say so,” Seokmin giggles softly before taking a sip of his soda.

Jihoon huffs in annoyance, much to Seokmin’s amusement, whose grin gets even wider (if that’s remotely possible) when the phone goes off again. He takes a peek to the bright screen and he swears he heard Seokmin stifling a laugh, but pointedly ignores it as he sees it’s – unsurprisingly – another text from Seungcheol.

 

 

**From Choi Seungcheol:**

[2:36 PM]: good afternoon jihoonie! ♡

[2:36 PM]: did you remind to eat today? ♡

[2:37 PM]: it’s lunchtime now for me~

[2:38 PM]: you’re working now right? sorry for the spam!

[2:38 PM]: text me once you’re done!

[2:39 PM]: i mean, if you want to, you know…

[2:39 PM]: it’s kinda lonely in here when they’re having other classes!

 

 

Jihoon sighs loudly, feigning annoyance. While seven texts over the course of 3 minutes are too much for his standards, he can’t tell that he doesn’t like them. It’s somewhat refreshing, he admits, barely registering as his fingers type a few replies back.

“And he says he’s not seeing anyone,” Seokmin whistles, “I don’t think even my own boyfriend texts me this much and Soonyoungie talks a _lot._ ”

The older rolls his eyes yet again before taking one of Seokmin’s fries in revenge.

 

He’s not seeing anyone.

 

(He completely ignores the little voice on the back of his mind telling that he wishes he was.)

 

 

\--

 

 

And so the week goes forward, work piling up in a steady pace, with Jihoon and Seungcheol texting nonstop, Chan growing fonder of Seungcheol’s presence and Seokmin teasing him incessantly about his infamous “crush”. Nothing too out of his current ordinary.

Things do change, however, when Jihoon receives a call on Wednesday about a big upcoming project he wasn’t expecting at all.

“Jihoon-ah,” Yoongi, a fellow producer and friend, says over the phone, “What do you say about collaborating with me for the next album of the debut group from the company?”

He bites the urge of yelling back “yes” as loudly as he can through the phone and responds him as calmly as he can (difficult) about how he’d be honored in making part of this project.

“Good,” Yoongi chuckles over the line, “So, for this first song, I was wondering if you could write a love song? Something like young love, maybe? Heard you were good with this kind theme.”

“Alright,” Jihoon says, containing the excitement his voice.

“I’m sure I can expect a good job from you,” he says, “Well, thank you for agreeing. I’ll call you later so we can discuss the details better, but I guess you can begin to think about it. Thank you.”

“It’s no problem,” Jihoon smiles internally, “Bye!”

Once the call is over, he begins to shake his tiny fists over the air excitedly. What are the odds of such an important senior in the music industry, among many other people, choosing him for a collaboration in his work? Very slim, so Jihoon feels the right to get giddy over the news.

He also feels on the right of calling someone to talk about it, giving Seokmin has taken a day off, he can’t immediately blurt out the good news, but he can call him instead, which is just as good. Therefore, he doesn’t think twice before pressing in the first number of his cellphone contacts list.

 

**Calling Seungcheol…**

 

He doesn’t realize his mistake, yelping in surprise as the deep voice he hears over the line _definitely_ doesn’t belong to Seokmin.

“Good afternoon, Jihoonie!” Seungcheol greets him enthusiastically, even though the speaker of the phone doesn’t fully transmit the natural warmness of his voice, he can still detect traces of it.

“Hi, hyung, actually-“ Jihoon pauses in a vain attempt to stop his stuttering, “Nevermind- wrong number.”

“Oh, really? That’s okay,” he says, chuckling softly, even if it feels as if he’s slightly disappointed “But, um, did something happen? You seem exasperated there.”

“Yes- I mean, no- Actually, are you busy?” Jihoon adds the last part in a whisper.

“Not really,” he can hear Seungcheol chuckling, “All the time of the world for you.”

He ignores the fluttering feeling in his chest, rolling his eyes. He decides it wouldn’t be too bad to trust Seungcheol in listening to what he has to say. “The thing is, I actually got a really good job with a great producer and i’m excited about it.”

“Really?” Seungcheol seems genuinely interested and Jihoon can only imagine the silly face he’s doing right now, “Do tell me more about it!”

Jihoon also settles in to ignore the voice in his head telling him that he’s happy he’s telling this to Seungcheol. The older is patient, sweet even, and this is one of the nicest things about him. Jihoon is not even sure if Seungcheol understands everything the younger is telling him, but either way, his attention is nice enough, and he feels grateful about it.

For some reason, it feels right to do so, and he’s content with himself doing his accidental decision.

(A tiny feeling of emptiness keeps nagging at Jihoon once the call ends though, and he’s not exactly sure how to proceed over this newfounded emotion.)

 

 

\--

 

 

A sound of crumbling paper fills the living room.

Only this night it’s the sixth discarded lyrics Jihoon puts away. Never writing a love song felt so difficult. He wrote thousands of them, more than he could even take account of, and yet, his mind seemed to draw a blank. Nothing sounded remotely right and to put it lightly, it was infuriating. On top of it, the pressure of this being one of the most important songs he could ever compose, weighted him down on whatever came to his mind. It felt incomplete, empty, just like his creative process.

Jihoon decides that maybe he needs some fresh air.

It’s a calm night, a fresh breeze creating a mild weather and Jihoon thinks this is the calmness he was looking for. It’s been a while since he had some time to himself, and maybe, just maybe, he’s too stressed out. All of the pressure of his work has been multiplying sleepless nights, wearing him out for the rest of the day.

His feet end up taking him to a nearby park, the sound of ruffling leaves from the trees beginning to ease his nerves. It’s a good change of pace from the usual crowded park, the one he takes Chan for the weekends with not too much work and a favorable weather. He spots an empty bench close to the fountains and he sits down for a while, letting the sound of the water running calm him down completely.

It’s a pretty scenery too – Jihoon thinks as he opens his eyes after a deep breath. The light of the nearby lampposts reflect beautifully on the fountain’s water. Leaves dancing with the wind make everything look calmer and shiny starts blinking above in the clear sky add up to creating a vision. He completely enjoys what he sees.

With his mind cleared of stress, he decides it’s about time to head back home. Even though Seokmin kindly offered Jihoon to let Chan sleep over at his house – it wasn’t a surprise that Seokmin had a way with kids, but it was endearing to see how the boy treats Chan truly like a younger brother, showering him with the attention Chan loved so much – but Jihoon figures he shouldn’t bother the kid any longer. Seokmin needs some rest too, since he stayed with the kid all day long, and he for one knows how tiring taking care of a child can be, specially such a bright and restless kid as chan.

Rising from the bench, he decides to make his way back to Seokmin’s apartment, taking the opposite way of where he came to the park. It’s also a good time for a walk, the path is clear, with the exception of some people here and there that decided to do some night jogging or riding bikes with radiant flashlights.

He’s beginning to think about what he should be doing for dinner, just steps out of the park when he spots a familiar face sitting on one of the benches.

“Seungcheol?” he turns immediately and is, unsurprisingly, greeted with a smile.

It’s him – of _course_ it’s him – the Seungcheol that keeps occupying his thoughts when he’s not paying attention. Just now that he was feeling calm and relaxed, he was reminded by the other’s presence of another source of his stress of late. If that wasn’t bad enough – Jihoon’s breath hitches once he gives Seungcheol a better look. He looks _disgustingly handsome_ , with exercise clothing and hair drenched in sweat, strong arms exposed by a grey tank top and that’s an entirely different image from the sweet, caring preschool teacher. But it’s not something bad, even if Jihoon prefers telling himself otherwise.

“Going for a night walk?” Seungcheol asks, stuffing his earphones in one of his shorts pockets and Jihoon definitely didn’t notice his legs at all.

“Yeah, having a lot in mind,” he replies casually, earning a nod from Seungcheol.

“Is it because of the song?”

“Yeah” Jihoon sighs and while his walk made him feel better, he feels like opening up about his frustrations to someone now that Seungcheol is staring at him with concerned eyes.

“Things aren’t going well?”

He decides to let it go, “Not at all.” – another sigh, a frustrated one, sitting by the other side of the bench – “I’m losing inspiration.”

“Well then, let the almighty S.Coups come to your rescue,” Seungcheol puts his hands on his hips proudly, making Jihoon laugh in the process, “What is it supposed to be about?”

“Young love, I suppose,” the younger frowns, thinking about his fruitless creative process all over again.

“Have you ever written about your first love?” he offers, with a certain uncertainty.

“A lot of times,” Jihoon laughs quietly, “but it’s no use to think about her now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Seungcheol backs away and Jihoon doesn’t know if the other can sense it’s too much of a personal subject to the younger or if he, somehow, knows.

“That’s okay,” Jihoon smiles, “I moved on already.”

“I’m glad so,” he says, a little warily. Jihoon rolls his eyes.

“You can ask if you want too, you know.”

“It’s just,” it’s almost weird to see Seungcheol hesitating so much, his usual confidence seeping away so easily, “You look like you could do some talking about it.”

“First love, she was nice, y’know?” Jihoon begins, looking up at the starry sky, “Thought we’d be together forever,” – there’s a bittersweet laugh – “And it was for her, I guess. She just left too soon.”

“But either way, I know she would have wanted me to move on,” he smiles, memories lifting a huge weight from his shoulders, “She always told me to keep the good memories and that’s what I did. I’m okay.”

“Do you feel lonely?” is not the question he expected, but he feels glad that the first thing Seungcheol says instead of the comfort words he’s long gotten used to.

“Not at all,” he looks at Seungcheol, locking their gazes, “I have Chan by my side now.”

(“And you,” he bites back the thought that almost threatened to be said outloud.)

 “I see,” Seungcheol hums in thought once he’s sure Jihoon is actually okay with him keeping on with the conversation, “Why don’t you try something new, then?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” Seungcheol answers, standing up, “Maybe… maybe you have to take a new look upon things.”

“Aren’t you a shit-helper,” Jihoon huffs, getting a hearty laugh in response.

“I thought you asked for help, not for me to think for you,” he pouted, “ _Especially_ not after dissing the great S.Coups.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes, “Such a drama queen, aren’t you.”

“Only with you.”

A brief silence fell upon them, the sound of ruffling leaves filling the ambient. Jihoon knew, he knew how the other had a way to make him flustered, seeing through his barriers. He knows he should be bothered, all of it always ended up making him feel at ease. Much like the ambience of the park, Seungcheol knew how to make Jihoon him feel peaceful, and much like his stuffy studio, Seungcheol knew how to provoke the chaos, a good one, inside Jihoon’s chest.

Realization hit him like an epiphany.

Jihoon stands up abruptly, startling Seungcheol in the process. The older can just stare at him in confusion, pouting slightly as he tilted his head. Now _there’s_ the Seungcheol he knows.

“Thanks a lot, hyung,” Jihoon smiles fondly, “I think I got it now.”

“No problem,” he smiles, “I hope it helped.”

“See you.”

“See you.”

Seungcheol waves at him as Jihoon begins to walk away, just like he does when he picks up Chan at the daycare.

But this time, there’s something different about it, aside the way the moonlight illuminates Seungcheol’s face, silvery shining underneath them. It’s a new feeling, a warm one and above everything, a convicted one, like he knows what it is.

His heart is filled with inspiration and this time, Jihoon thinks he finally understands.

 

 

\--

 

 

It’s a tiring week, to say the least.

Summer is arriving faster than Jihoon thinks, and thus, work seems to increase by time, because this mid-season is where the lengthy summer projects begins. Amidst all of this chaos though, he finds in time to compose and beginning a melody for his important project. In addition to it, Jihoon finds in time to communicate with his main source of inspiration, even if it meant sending sleepy texts at three in the morning.

Jihoon likes Seungcheol.

There was absolute no use to deny that anymore – he knew how to place all of the fluttering feelings once he began drafting the lyrics for his upcoming project. Everything, from the way some flowers would endearingly get stuck to his hair, the way the colors of the afternoon sky would make his smile dazzle, to the way the resplendent stars of the night sky would fill his eyes with light.

To tell the truth, Jihoon loves Seungcheol.

He smiled at the thought, because for all he knew, Seungcheol loved him too. From the silly and flirty remarks to the affectionate looks and lingering touches, he could only assume it was the same. He was glad to think so.

Their love was like a slow burn, soft and tender – at the same time, everything was so fast, feelings consuming them so quickly inside out that there was no time to react properly to everything.

Young love, he guesses with a chuckle.

So now that his project is finally complete, Jihoon sees no reason to prolong this any further. That’s why he’s waiting for Seungcheol by their (now) usual meet-up spot by the park. He doesn’t know why he’s feeling so jittery and nervous, but he guesses again, because it’s something too fresh, it’s too young.

“Jihoonie,” a deep voice dissipates his thoughts.

This time Seungcheol is dressed casually instead of his workout clothes and it’s something nice by itself, Jihoon thinks. A black-striped shirt with a light grey coat and worn-out jeans compose his outfit for the day.

“Hi,” Jihoon takes a deep breath, “Look, I’m going to make this brief okay?”

Seungcheol frowns, “Is there something wrong?”

“No, definitely not,” Jihoon smiles genuinely, which eases Seungcheol’s expression, “Well, do you remember the song?”

“How could I possibly forget,” he laughs softly, “I thought that was the major topic of the week.”

“And it is.”

“So, what about it?”

“I submitted it yesterday,” Jihoon takes a sigh of relief, “And today I’ve only head praises for it.”

“That’s incredible!” Seungcheol beams, “I told you that you could do it, didn’t I? Have faith in yourself and in your hyung now, would you?”

Jihoon finds himself laughing at the way Seungcheol punctuates his words, “Shut up.”

“Rude,” he crosses his arms with a pout, laughing before motioning for Jihoon to continue. “But really, I always knew you could make it.”

Seungcheol smiles softly, wind blowing his bangs away and Jihoon is enchanted. The faint sunlight seeping through the thin space between the shadow of the tree they’re standing makes his face look brighter and for once, Jihoon doesn’t feel ashamed of the nice feeling that settles in his chest.

“Well, now that the song is done I think it’s about time for me to tell you something.”

“And what could that be?”

The younger takes out an envelope out of his messenger bag, “Here.”

“For me?” Seungcheol blinks.

“For who else could it be,” Jihoon rolls his eyes, “You’re ruining the moment.”

Seungcheol smirks upon hearing the statement, making the other feel a little embarrassed of his sudden display of affection.

“Are you suggesting something?”

“I’m suggesting you to take your ass out of here and take a look at this,” he motions to the envelope, now in Seungcheol’s hand, “Once you’re home.”

“Should I get going then?”

“Yep.”

Seungcheol laughs, “If that’s what you want.”

“That’s precisely what I want.”

“Your wish is my command, then.”

“Shut _up_ , would you?”

Laughter fills up the otherwise silent and peaceful ambient. There’s something Jihoon has been thinking of doing for a while now and he thinks they’re past their fragile, small steps enough for him to ask this.

“Hey, can you lean down a bit?”

“What for?”

“Just do it.”

“Okay.”

Jihoon presses a soft kiss on Seungcheol’s lips, holding him softly by the shoulders and he feels warmness swelling his body. It feels _right_ , he feels his heart in such an easiness he hasn’t felt in so long, feelings bursting inside in a sing-song voice.

At the same time the moment feels so special that it almost looks as if time has just stopped for them, Jihoon quickly let go of Seungcheol, cheeks pinking in both embarrassment and happiness. Once he opens his eyes, he sees Seungcheol staring back at him, lips now curled in a tiny, gentle smile, eyes shimmering. He doesn’t know what exactly to say – but he supposes that’s the good thing about the way Seungcheol makes him feel – like he doesn’t need to say anything to get to the point, as if the older knows him inside out – and well, if he doesn’t already, he wouldn’t mind telling him.

Jihoon laughs quietly, breaking eye contact, “Now go home.”

Seungcheol smiles, nodding in understanding, but not before pulling Jihoon by the waist and giving him one more kiss, a little deeper this time, happiness evident all over his face. Jihoon is taken aback, looking surprised before frowning slightly as they part, cheeks burning red and Seungcheol can’t help but think that he is adorable.

 

Once he’s home, Seungcheol doesn’t spare a second before tossing his keys away and reaching to the envelope he’s been holding so carefully.

His eyes sparkle curiously as he reaches for the contents – a simple cd and a folded paper.

Unfolding the drawing, Seungcheol smiles at the picture before his eyes, recognizing the owner of the scribbles. He smiles even brighter upon taking a closer look about what the drawing is about – three stick figures, side-by-side as they hold hands.   

Turning the page, he sees a tiny handwritten note with what seemingly are lyrics of a song.   
  
Reminded of the cd, Seungcheol hurries to his computer, suddenly feeling anxious to what could it possibly be – and he hopes it is what he thinks he is. As he waits for the computer to load, he thinks of everything that has been unfolding by the past month.

About how he met Jihoon – the once rumored grumpy parent Lee Jihoon – and how he saw nothing of what the rumors told about – because if anything, Jihoon was the definition of kindness, even if he had trouble showing it. It was no surprise that Seungcheol was interested in him, willing to take Jisoo’s shift of waiting for parents that arrived a little later to the daycare so he could, maybe, just maybe see Jihoon again.

It took three meetings for him to begin to take a liking of the short man; and it took a few texts for him to realize that the fluttering feelings were something more. He fell for Jihoon’s kindness, for his difficult personality and for his lively smile. Everything about him made he – ah, wasn’t Seungcheol a cheesy individual – want to sing out the things he felt in his chest.

Brushing the thoughts aside for a brief moment, he slipped the cd in the player. It had one audio file and Seungcheol’s thoughts were filled with curiosity. Not wasting a second, he clicked and a soft melody echoed through the room.

An acoustic guitar were filled the first moments of the song and Seungcheol felt serene upon hearing it, the strumming of chords creating a beautiful sound. Once someone began to sing, he felt his breath hitch and his heart beginning to thump loudly as he recognized the owner of the captivating voice.

He did like the sound of Jihoon’s voice, but he never knew he could sing so beautifully.

A smile flashed across his face and he closed his eyes, letting the music sink in.

(It was when he was sure – he loved Jihoon as much as Jihoon loved him. And that was the best feeling he could ever experience.)

 

 

\--

 

 

Summer is already crawling upon the windows, scorching rays interrupting Jihoon’s peaceful sleep. He takes a glance to the digital clock, red lights staring back at him and he gets up with a sigh. Chan is still softly curled up with his favorite plushie, snoring softly in his sleep. As endearing as it can be, he has to be up soon, so jihoon taps his shoulder lightly and chuckles as Chan stares at him with a sleepy face, eyes closing ever so slightly.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he ruffles Chan’s hair, “You don’t want to get late now, do you?”

As if struck by a spell, like every other time, Chan smiles, eyes sparkling with excitement as he moves from the bed – but not before making sure his plushie is still going to have a good sleep, placing him carefully on the pillow and covering him with the sheets before pit-patters his way to the bathroom.   

Following their routine, Jihoon sleepily moves to the kitchen, thinking what he should be making for breakfast with a yawn. Once he’s done, he begins to settle down the table and Chan comes in, showing off that today indeed he made a good job brushing his teeth, receiving a thumbs up in response. He pats Chan’s head before taking a seat himself and taking a sip of his coffee.    

The sound of the doorbell rings, echoing all over the apartment and Chan promptly jumps out of his chair, taking hurried steps to get to the door.

“Cheol-hyung!” he beams, moving his arms so Seungcheol can carry him up, laughing as he does so.

Jihoon gets up as well and leans against a wall while Seungcheol and Chan are exchanging laughs over silly greetings. Chan moves his legs, signaling he wants to get down and Seungcheol easily does so. He leans against the doorframe and smiles once he sets his eyes on Jihoon. 

“Good morning, Seungcheol.”

They stare at each other for a moment, eyes sparkling with sincerity and fondness, before Chan begins to tap his foot lightly on the wooden floor, signaling his demand for attention, pouting slightly. Laughter fills in the living room and Chan moves to stay outside by the door with Seungcheol, waiting for Jihoon to finish gathering his things up for the day. He locks the door, tossing his keys on his pockets and smiles as if saying they’re ready to go. Before they begin to walk away from the apartment, Seungcheol takes a hold of Jihoon’s hand before pressing a soft kiss on his lips, sweetness coloring the moment.

“Good morning, Jihoonie.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes at the obvious cheesiness in his boyfriend’s voice for good measure, punching Seungcheol softly in the arm before taking a hold of one Chan’s hand, smiling as he sees with the corner of his eyes Seungcheol taking the other. The three of them walk out, with Jihoon humming a now familiar song along the way.

 

 

 _When you look at me, you’re so beautiful_  
_I want to tell you_  
_All of you that I see_  
_I want to cherish it_  
_Just come to me_  
_I want you to want me baby_

 _I wanna be your morning baby_  
_From now on, be alright (until always)_  
_I’ll show you how_  
_I only think of you_

 _Don’t try to brush past it like it’s nothing_  
_If you want me yeah if you want me_  
_I can give you my everything_  
_If I’m in your heart_


End file.
